This invention relates to optical fiber communication systems and particularly to an electrostatic optical fiber holder used to hold and align optical fibers.
Although optical fibers have been successfully used as communications transmission media, the splicing of optical fibers was and continues to be a difficult task. Unlike the splicing of wires which are relatively easy to handle and require only good electrical contact between them, the splicing of optical fibers is difficult because optical fibers are very delicate and require careful handling. Furthermore, the optical fibers to be coupled together require a substantially perfect axial alignment between them to obtain the required coupling efficiency, because any axial misalignment will attenuate the signal across the coupling.
A prior art optical fiber holding and alignment device utilizes a vacuum to position and hold optical fibers in an alignment groove. While such a device does provide the required alignment accuracy, it is not readily portable because of the vacuum requirement and furthermore, if a permanent splice is to be made between the two fibers, the adhesive used to join the fibers has a tendency to get into the vacuum system impairing its operation. Ideally, an optical fiber holding and alignment device should be inexpensive and should be readily portable so that it could be used in the field as well as in the lab.
Therefore, it is an object of the invention to provide another optical fiber holder.
Another object of the invention is to provide a relatively low-cost optical fiber holder.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide an optical fiber holder which is readily portable.
These and other objects of the invention are realized in one illustrative embodiment thereof wherein the holder has two electrodes which are spaced apart and form two alignment surfaces, and a voltage is applied between the two electrodes to produce a nonuniform electric field which exerts an electrostatic force upon an optical fiber placed in the field, so that the fiber is positioned and held in contact with the two alignment surfaces.
A feature of the invention is that an electrostatic force exerted by a nonuniform electric field is used to position and hold an optical fiber against two alignment surfaces.
Another feature of the invention is that the two electrodes form two alignment surfaces for the optical fiber.
Yet another feature of the invention is that the voltage applied to the electrodes is produced by a piezoelectric device.